Retains Iyanya, Chidinma, Praiz

Nigeria’s biggest telecommunication company, MTN has terminated its contract with some of Nigeria’s biggest stars, including Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Davido, among others.The management has also released the names of its 2016/2017 celebrity ambassadors to include Praiz, Chidinma, Iyanya, Tekno, Falz and more.
A statement yesterday by the company, said: “In line with its commitment to supporting Nigerian musicians by providing alternative platforms through which they can receive lucrative value for their intellectual property, MTN has announced brand ambassadors for 2016-2017.
“Music ambassadors for 2016-2017 are: Praiz (Praise Adejo); Iyanya (Iyanya Mbuk); Chidinma(Chidinma Ekile); Falz (Folarin Falana); Tekno Miles (Augustine Kelechi) and Skales (Raoul Njeng-Njeng).
“Four other ambassadors are – Saka, (Hafiz Oyetoro); Nedu (Steve Onu); Osuofia (Nkem Owoh) and Adamu Zango.
MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, who spoke on the new development said: “MTN remains proud to be associated with the growth and development of the careers of all our ambassadors, past and present,” she said.
“We specially thank all our former ambassadors for their immense contributions to building our brand and also making us the network of choice in Nigeria
We will definitely continue to maintain the strong and mutually beneficial relationship with them through the monetisation of their content on all our digital platforms – MTN Music+, CRBT and Nigeria
She explained that MTN support for the music industry is not a destination but a continuum that is why we will continue to engage and support our local artistes so that they can find full expression for their talent.
We will also continue to explore other areas of collaboration with ALL artistes through these platforms and many more, as we work to fulfill our vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world”
She, however, posited that for the purpose of keeping alive the original concept of music brand ambassadorship, MTN decided to retain the services of past winners and participants of its Project Fame music reality TV show, which include Inyanya, Chidinma and Praiz. “MTN is particularly proud of these musicians because we not only gave them the platform to express their talent through Project FAME, we have consistently supported them over the years by making them our ambassadors. We are proud to have been able to contribute to some of Nigeria’s biggest music acts.”
Beyond the Project Fame alumni, Iweanoge also said that in order to nurture other artistes so that they too could attain greater heights, MTN would still retain the services of some of its newly-signed brand ambassadors like Falz, Skales and Tekno who are the faces of its youth segment proposition – MTN Pulse.
He added that there will be a renewed focus on building MTN’s digital platforms.